Title: Fluffy Who Are You (Ep 19 of the Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: From now on I won't be taking the episodes in chronological order. If you want to vote for which episode is done next then go here <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FluffyPolls/join>

Dedications: To my betas Becca and Isabelle. And to Shoshanna for making me laugh and for helping me out when I got stuck.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Faith was having the time of her life. This was a fresh start, something she never thought she'd get the chance to have. But now she had it all, friends, family, all the things she'd envied Buffy for having were now hers. She had to hand it to the Mayor; he sure knew how to leave a parting gift. She just wished he was still alive, then she could have had the life she wanted without having to use someone else's body.

"Hey Buffy."

Faith said nothing, still caught up in her thoughts.

"Buffy?"

Then she remembered that now she was Buffy. She was going to have to get used to this. She turned and found Willow smiling at her expectantly.

"Hi Willow." She replied, forcing a smile. Something else she was going to have to get used to. She never used to smile. Grin, sure. Smirk, fine but a happy smile was just something she never had reason to use before. That would all change now though.

"You wanna come dance with us?"

Faith looked over to where Xander and his girl were currently happily entwined on the dance floor.

"Nah." She replied. "I'm not really in a dancing mood."

This was a lie of course, she loved to dance. But she had a feeling her style might arouse some suspicion. She was going to have to play it cool for now.

Willow nodded with understanding. "Are you going to see Riley?"

Faith's ears pricked up at this. She'd forgotten that Buffy had a new hunk of meat to replace Angel. Now here was the chance to have some real fun.

"Yeah, I think I will. I'll see you later."

Willow smiled and nodded before heading back to Xander. Faith turned and headed with resolve towards the door, only to plough face first into someone's chest. Her immediate reaction was to form her hands into fists, ready to punch whoever had gotten in her way. But almost as soon as the thought had entered her head she pushed it aside again. She was Buffy now and she couldn't do that.

Spike let out an exasperated sigh when he saw who it was who had bumped into him. Just his luck that he couldn't even have a quiet drink without running into the Slayer

"Oh great, it's you." He grumbled

Buffy regarded him with silent indifference, which just served to get him even more annoyed. At least when they were fighting, verbally or otherwise, she treated him like something.

"Can't a vamp have a beer in peace without getting hassle from you?"

Faith tensed, so this guy was a vampire. And Buffy let him live? The girl was more twisted than Faith had first thought. She always came across as being the pure and perfect Miss America when it was clear from this that she had some sort of undead fetish. It wouldn't surprised her if she was boinking this guy behind Riley's back just to get some satisfaction. There was only one way to find out.

"Maybe you want me to give you some hassle." She purred, moving closer to him.

"You would think that." Spike scoffed. "Just because this chip in my head stops me from hurting you that doesn't mean I've turned soft."

Faith stepped back. Maybe she'd been wrong. But there was something about this vampire that stopped her from just walking away, something about the way his eyes blazed when he spoke to her. She got the feeling that there was something more here, something more than hatred. Could it be that the vampire had feelings for Buffy? This was going to be even more fun than screwing around with Riley.

She took a step closer to him again. "Maybe I want to give you some hassle, the kind you would enjoy."

To prove her point Faith ran one of her hands down his chest, letting it stop on the buckle of his jeans belt. She looked down, letting him know she was prepared to go further if he wanted.

Spike swallowed.

"What are you doing?" He croaked, trying not to let her see just how much she was affecting him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Faith whispered sensually, leaning in close so that her warm breath tickled his ear. Her hand moved down a fraction further and Spike choked back a moan, his eyes involuntarily drifting closed.

Faith grinned and pulled away, causing Spike's eyes to snap back open.

"See you around." She smiled perkily and disappeared into the crowd.

For a moment all Spike could do was stare at the space Buffy had been occupying. He couldn't believe she'd just done that to him. He frowned. He really couldn't believe she'd just done that to him. Maybe she was possessed. He ran after her.

Faith was nearly out of the door to the Bronze when she felt a hand curl around her arm and pull her back in. She found herself facing those same blazing eyes she'd been looking into a moment before.

"Sorry vamp-boy." She shrugged, trying to cover the fact that she didn't actually know his name. "That's enough fun for one evening."

The vampire cocked his head to one side; studying her carefully and making her feel more than a little uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" He finally asked.

Faith blanched. How could he know what had happened? Nobody else had noticed anything different, not even Buffy's own mother.

"What are you talking about?" She bluffed. "I'm Buffy."

"Is that right?" Spike asked dangerously. "Well, I've known Buffy for several years now and you're not her. So what are you? Some sort of shapeshifter? Some sort of ghost that has possessed her? A demon inhabiting her body?"

Faith flinched at this. "I'm not a demon."

"Let's find out shall we."

Before Faith could react, Spike's fist shot out and hit her sharply in the face. Instantly he cried out, clutching his head as the chip zapped him. For a split second Faith regarded him with surprise, then she turned and fled into the night. By the time Spike recovered she was long gone.

* * *

As the van she had been loaded into rumbled down the road to wherever they were going, Buffy lay as still as possible with her eyes closed. She'd found out the hard way that if she showed any signs of movement the people that had taken her just shot her full of drugs and knocked her out again. Clearly Faith had everyone on edge, the Council included, and they weren't going to take any chances that she might escape again. She'd tried to explain to them what Faith had done but they wouldn't listen. Now all she could do was bide her time and wait for the right moment to try and escape.

She felt the van pull to a stop and heard the front doors open. Muffled voices began to talk outside.

"The chopper will be coming for us tomorrow morning. You think we should give her another shot just to make sure?"

She heard the back door to the van open and pretended to still be unconscious.

"She's still out." Another voice said. "Leave her. We'll shoot her up if we need to but I don't want her to OD."

"Alright."

As she heard the door close Buffy finally opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. It didn't reveal much. The van she was in had no windows and the doors were heavily barred. She was also chained up and even with her Slayer strength she knew she wouldn't be able to break free. With a sigh of frustration she realised it was going to take something like a miracle to get her out of this.

* * *

As Giles settled himself down for a cup of tea, he was disturbed by the sound of the door to his apartment banging open. The next thing he knew, Spike had barged in, looking around frantically.

"Is Buffy here?" He panted, trying to compose himself.

Giles stood up, looking at Spike with puzzlement. "No."

"Something's happened to her."

Giles tensed and moved forward before Spike even knew what was happening. He grabbed Spike by the shirt and pushed him back against the wall.

"If you've done anything to her..." He hissed.

"It's not me you twit." Spike protested, trying to free himself without triggering the chip. "If I'd done something to her do you really think I'd be here telling you about it. I'm not a complete idiot."

Giles considered this for a moment before letting Spike go.

"'Bout bloody time." Spike grumbled, trying to smooth down his now crumpled shirt.

"You've got two minutes to tell me what's happened to Buffy before I introduce you to the pointy end of a stake." Giles said calmly, his eyes fixed on the vampire.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Now, I don't know exactly what it is, but there's something wrong with her. She may look like Buffy but it's not her. I thought she might be a demon or something but when I hit her I got a nasty headache."

Giles moved forward again, pure anger in his eyes. "You hit her?"

Spike backed up. "I had to do it to prove if she was a demon or not. I don't give myself migraines just for the hell of it."

Giles sighed. "Very well. What makes you think something is wrong with her?"

Spike shrugged, not wanting to go into the details of what she had said to him or the way her touch had made him feel. "It was just the way she spoke to me. I know Buffy, and that wasn't her."

"She seemed perfectly alright when she left here with Willow, Xander and Anya. If something had happened to her on the way surely one of them would have informed me."

Spike shrugged again. "I'm just telling you what I saw. It's up to you what you do with my info."

Giles studied Spike carefully for a moment. "Supposing what you say is true...."

"What do you mean 'supposing'?" Spike demanded. "I'm telling you the truth."

"And why should I believe you?" Giles asked calmly. "Do I need to remind you that last time we spoke you made it clear that you were going to turn us all over to Faith if you got the chance. Why the sudden urge to help someone you claimed to hate less than twenty four hours ago?"

Spike opened his mouth and then closed it again. Giles had a point. Why was he trying to help? Maybe it was because he enjoyed sparring with Buffy, that she kept him on his toes and that before he'd gotten his chip they were pretty much equals in the fighting area. He couldn't answer.

"Forget it. Just don't come running to me when whatever is inhabiting her ends up trying to kill you all."

And with that he turned and marched back out into the night.

"I'll just have to find her myself." He muttered.

* * *

The problem, Spike soon found out, was that he had no idea who or what he was looking for. Until he knew what had happened to Buffy he was clueless as to where to start. And to make things worse he still didn't know why he was looking for her. One thing he did know was, there was only one place in Sunnydale where you could get information.

* * *

As the door to Willie's banged open, Spike tried not to grimace when neither the demon clientele, nor the barman gave him a second glance. There had been a time when his mere presence would have struck fear into them all. He was definitely going to have to play this carefully if he wanted to get out in one piece.

"Hey Spike." Willie greeted cheerfully as the vampire took a seat at the bar and threw a couple of crumpled dollar bills down. Willie was one of the few people that counted Spike's inability to hurt humans as a good thing, and he was quite happy to be civil to the vampire so long as he was a paying customer.

"Pint of the red stuff, barkeep." Spike said. "Human if you've got it."

Willie nodded and quickly filled a glass, handing it to Spike who drank deeply.

"So what's new in the world?" He asked casually. "Those soldier creeps still tearing up the place?"

Willie shrugged. "Don't know. Apparently an Enosh demon was found dead in a side alley near the Espresso Pump last night. Had his neck broken, not really soldier style. People were saying it must have been your slayer."

Spike tensed, looking around slightly nervously. None of the demons seem to have heard, or if they did they didn't seem to care. They just carried on drinking their drinks in peace. Relaxing slightly Spike turned back to the bar.

"She's not my Slayer." He hissed. "And besides, Enosh demons the messenger types. It's not like the Slayer to go around killing demons that aren't dangerous."

Draining the rest of his blood Spike handed the glass back to Willie.

"Thanks Willie, see you around."

As Spike headed out he had a feeling he was getting closer to finding out just what was going on.

* * *

It didn't take Spike long to find the alley, he could smell death before he even got there. Sure enough he found the body of the demon stuffed haphazardly into a dumpster. Whoever had killed it was clearly either sloppy or didn't care about getting caught. Finding nothing else of interest in the dumpster Spike's attention turned to the ladder at the back of the alley. It was the only other place the killer could have gone aside from out in the open. He climbed the ladder and pulled himself in through the window at the top.

He found himself in a small storage room, cardboard boxes piles up as far as he could see. He stumbled around in the darkness for a few minutes until his eyes adjusted. It was then that he found the video player and the television. The remote was still next to the set and Spike pressed play, curious to see what he would find.

He was more surprised when the Mayor appeared on screen.

"Hello, Faith. If you're watching this tape, it can only mean one thing. I'm dead."

Faith? Suddenly this was beginning to make a lot of sense. It was obvious that she had killed the demon he's found in the alley and somehow he knew that this tape was going to explain what had happened to Buffy too.

"Surprise!" The Mayor continued. "See, you don't get these in any gumball machine. When you've been around as long as I have you make friends. And some of them forge neat little gizmos like the one you're holding right now."

Obviously the Mayor had left something for Faith, Spike just wished he knew what it was.

"Now I suppose you're wondering what that little thing does." The Mayor said with a smile. "Allow me to explain."

Spike grinned; this was his lucky day.

* * *

As soon as the tape finished Spike hurried out of the window and slid down the ladder. Once his feet had hit the floor he began to sprint as fast as his legs would go. Now he knew it all. Buffy was really Faith, which meant that Buffy was who knew where and trapped in Faith's body. He had to do something before it was too late.

Running to Giles', he burst through the front door for the second time that evening. Luckily Giles was still alone; Spike wasn't sure what he would have done if Faith had been here.

"Spike, what on earth do you want now?"

"Buffy is Faith." Spike panted, leaning against the wall as he fought for breath and the muscles in his legs screamed for rest.

"What?" Giles asked, removing his glasses and giving them a quick clean before putting them back on.

"Buffy is really Faith. They've switched bodies."

Giles sighed and sat back down. "Really Spike, if you're going to come up with a ridiculous story like that you should at least try and make it credible."

"It's true." He gasped. "The Mayor gave her some sort of gadget that allowed them to switch bodies."

Giles didn't look convinced. "And you can prove this I suppose."

He was stunned into silence when Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out videotape. As Spike put it into the machine Giles could only watched as the Mayor gave the same talk that he had given to Faith and Spike. Once it had finished he could only stare at the screen. How could he have been so blind? None of them had seen it, not him, not Buffy's friends not even her own mother.

"Believe me now?" Spike asked softly, causing Giles' head to shoot up.

"Yes." He replied just as softly. Then he jumped to her feet. "We've got to find out where they took Faith."

Spike nodded as Giles grabbed the phone and quickly dialled a number. "This is Rupert Giles. I understand you've taken Faith into custody."

He paused, listening to the voice at the other end of the line.

"She has vital information that we need. It's imperative that I talk to her before you deal with her. Where is she being held?"

Another pause. Then Giles sighed with relief.

"Thank you."

Once he'd hung up he turned to Spike. "Let's go."

* * *

Having realised fairly early on that if she just sat around and waited she was never going to escape, Buffy had now started to put her strength into use, pulling at her chains in the vain hope that they might give way.

Suddenly the back door to the van swung open and she saw the silhouette of a man.

"I've had enough of your banging." He hissed. "This ought to shut you up."

As he moved towards her she saw the syringe in his hand and moved back as far away from him as possible, trying to get herself into the best position to defend herself. It didn't get that far however. Before the man was fully inside the van he suddenly let out a strangled cry and pitched forward, landing flat on his face and lying still. It was then that she saw the small dart sticking out of his neck. The next thing she knew Spike was knelt at her feet and was unlocking her chains.

"You really do get yourself into all kinds of messes, don't you pet?"

Buffy could barely speak. "Spike, what are you doing?"

"Helping you get your body back. Don't worry, you can thank me later."

For a moment she was sure that she'd already been drugged and was in fact dreaming this. "You know what happened? How?"

"Long story." Spike replied, unlocking the final manacle. "We'd better go before Faith takes your body some place we can't get it back."

As they stepped over the unconscious bounty hunter Buffy looked at Spike in surprise. "How did you do that without giving yourself a headache?"

As they stepped outside Buffy saw several more unconscious men scattered over the floor.

"He didn't." A voice said and her head whipped around to see Giles, tranquilliser gun in hand.

With a cry of relief Buffy ran to him and threw her arms around him. "I knew you'd realise it wasn't me in that body."

Over the top of her head, Giles gave an uncomfortable grimace. "Yes, well, we should get out of here. We need to find Faith before she realises we know what's happened."

Buffy and Spike headed into the back of the van. Buffy so that she could stay out of sight and Spike so that he could take shelter from the sun which was in the process of rising.

As the engine roared into life and Giles pulled out of the warehouse they were in Buffy was finally able to relax. It would soon all be over. She stole a glance at Spike who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"So how much did Giles pay you to get you to help him out?" She asked without thinking about it.

Spike's head slowly raised until his eyes met hers. His mouth opened and Buffy waited for some sort of barb to come flying in her direction. Instead he just sighed, shook his head and looked at the floor again.

Buffy frowned. Something was going on here. She wasn't sure what it was but as soon as she had her body back she was going to find out.

Spike wished he had a reason for being mad at Buffy's assumption that he had merely been bribed into helping, but the truth was he understood. It wasn't as though he'd been willing to help out in the past. He certainly wasn't the sort of person that did something for nothing. Nevertheless he still wished she'd been able to see past all that, just has he'd been able to see it wasn't her in her body.

Before he could take his thoughts any further however, the van pulled to a stop and he heard the driver's door open. A few seconds later the back door opened and Spike quickly skittered over to the back corner so as to avoid the rays of sunlight, which were now filtering in. Giles shot him an apologetic look.

"The door is only a few feet away. If you run you'll be all right."

Buffy climbed out of the van and headed into Giles' apartment. Spike braced himself and tried not to think about the pain as he hurled himself outside and quickly ran in. Aside from a few wisps of smoke coming off him he was ok.

"So what do we do now?" Buffy asked, once they were all gathered back in Giles' living room.

"The first thing we need to do is find Faith. Then once we've found out how she managed to do this we can work out a way to change you back. Did you notice anything before this happened that might help us find out what Faith did?"

Buffy thought for a moment. "We were fighting. She grabbed hold of my hand. The next thing I knew I was looking back at myself. She knocked me out before I could say anything."

"I hate to be the one to point this out." Spike said. "But if we get hold of this bird, what are the chances she's actually going to tell us anything?"

Giles didn't seemed fazed by this. "We can find a way to make her talk. Magic if we need to."

Buffy nodded. "Call Willow. We're probably going to need her."

"Need who?" Willow asked, walking into the living room with Tara close behind. "Oh, Buffy. Good you're here."

"Willow, wait." Buffy said frantically. "I need to explain."

She paused. "Did you just call me Buffy?"

Willow nodded, pulling Tara forward. "This is my friend Tara. She's a really powerful witch. When she met you...well, not you...in the Bronze the other night she knew something was wrong. So we did a spell and made you this."

She handed Buffy a small box and when she opened it there was a glowing orb inside.

"That should switch you back. If you can find Faith."

Buffy smiled her thanks to both Willow and Tara, causing Tara to blush. "Now we just need to find Faith."

"I think I can deal with that." Giles said, picking up the phone and quickly dialling a number.

"Buffy, it's Giles." He said once she'd picked up. "It seems Faith has escaped. No, she's here with me. She was trying to tell me some sort of nonsense story but I've managed to subdue her. I've contacted the council and they're coming for her but I think it might be best for you to come and watch over her in case she tries anything. Alright, goodbye."

As he hung up he turned to the others. "She's coming."

* * *

Faith should have known something like this would happen, she should have killed Buffy when she had the chance. She wasn't the sort of person to give up without a fight. Of course she was going to escape and try to find her friends. This was going to end now. The minute Giles left her alone with Buffy she was going to do what she should have done in the first place.

As Giles' apartment came into sight she sped up into a jog. The sooner this was over the better.

"Giles, I'm here." She called as she stepped inside. She soon saw Buffy lying on the floor, her wrists and ankles tied. She seemed to be unconscious. This made things easier.

"Giles?" She called again. "Are you here?"

"I'll be down in a minute." She heard him call from upstairs. It was now or never.

Kneeling down beside Buffy, Faith pulled a cushion from the couch. "Sorry about this, B. Can't have you screwing around with my new life."

Suddenly Buffy sat up, the loose bonds dropping away from her wrists. "I think you'll find that's my life."

Before Faith could react, Buffy grabbed hold of her hand, clasping them together. Faith felt a wave of energy flow through her and the next thing she knew she was looking at Buffy back in her own body. With a cry she jumped to her feet, horrified that her life had been taken from her yet again. Now she was back to what she was. A killer.

She turned and ran.

As Buffy stared at the door she was joined by Giles, Spike, Willow and Tara.

"I don't think we'll be seeing her again." Buffy said softly. A deep part of her prayed that this small taste of what her life could have been might push her towards trying to change herself.

* * *

"I can't believe it." Riley said with shock once Buffy had finished explaining to him what had happened. "I should have seen it. I thought you were acting different, but I didn't think. And when we...."

He trailed off, unable to say it.

Buffy's eyes widened. "You slept with her."

"No!" Riley exclaimed, moving closer towards her. "I would never....I thought it was you. I didn't know."

As he reached out to touch her Buffy pulled away. "Don't. I can't. I need to think."

As she ran out of the door Riley sighed and slumped back. "Asshole."

* * *

"Giles, I need to ask you something." Buffy said as she marched through his door. "How did you know it was Faith in my body?"

"W-what?" He asked nervously, setting down his mug of tea. He really hoped she'd have forgotten about this.

"The only other person that seemed to notice there was something wrong was a girl who's never met me before. What was it that you saw that showed you it wasn't me. Why couldn't any of the others see it?"

Giles sighed and motioned for her to sit down. "You have to think about it from their point of view, Buffy. If Willow or Xander started acting a little differently, you wouldn't immediately assume that it was someone else in their body would you?"

Buffy shook her head. "I guess not. But I think I know them well enough to know when something is up, like when Xander got possessed by the hyena. But how come you saw it?"

Giles removed his glasses and began to clean then slowly. "Buffy, I have to tell you this. It wasn't me who realised something was wrong."

She stared at him in disbelief. "I don't understand. You came and saved me."

"Yes, after Spike explained to me what had happened. And showed me a tape to prove it."

Buffy opened her mouth, but the words didn't come out. Spike had been the one to see it. Out of all the people she knew it was her former enemy who had seen that something was wrong.

"So, you didn't bribe him into helping you rescue me?" She asked hesitantly

Giles shook his head. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I realise now that I should have seen it. But as I said earlier, we had no reason to suspect something like that had happened."

Buffy stood up. "I have to go."

Now that she knew the truth there was someone she had to see. Someone who had the answers she needed.

* * *

Buffy didn't know how long she'd been stood outside Spike's crypt. This was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do; her battles to avert the apocalypse seeming easy compared to this. Finally she took a deep breath and stepped inside.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she made out Spike's form lying on top of a bier, covered by a blanket. He appeared to be sleeping and understably so. From what she had gathered he'd been up for almost forty-eight hours. She moved to his side and looked down at him for a moment. Part of her was reluctant to wake him after all he'd done but another part of her wanted answers. Finally she reached out and shook him gently.

Spike stirred slightly but didn't wake. She shook him again.

"Spike, wake up."

"Don' wanna." He murmured sleepily. "Tired."

"Spike I need to talk to you."

Bloody hell." He groaned, finally opening his eyes and sitting up. "What's a vamp got to do to get some sleep around here?"

Buffy smiled apologetically as his eyes finally focused on her. "Hey."

Spike looked more than a little surprised to see her sat beside him. "Though you'd be out celebrating with your chums or your boytoy."

Buffy winced at the mention of Riley and looked down at her hands. "I don't feel like it right now."

Now fully awake Spike swung his legs over the side of the bier and sat up properly. "All not well with Captain America?"

"I don't understand it." Buffy finally blurted out, causing Spike to jump slightly. "How is it that my best friends, the man who has been like a father to me and my own mother couldn't tell it wasn't me in that body? Even my boyfriend didn't notice anything was wrong. But you, the guy who has been my enemy for three years and barely knows me could tell. God, even Willow's friend who's never even met me before could tell something was wrong."

Spike stared at her for a moment. "You think I barely know you? Let me tell you something, Slayer. I know you a lot better than you think. I know the way you fight is nothing like anything I've seen in anyone else, I know that you'd do anything to protect your friends and family and I know you're unlike any other girl I've ever met. That's how I knew it wasn't you."

Buffy smiled. "If I didn't know any better, Spike, I'd say you actually cared about me."

She froze when he reached over and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "You don't know it all, pet."

Neither of them was sure who made the first move, but the next thing they knew their lips had met in a sweet and tender kiss. It only lasted a few seconds but to them it felt like time had frozen.

When they finally parted Buffy smiled. "I guess you really do know me."

Spike, still unable to believe that had just happened, merely nodded.

"Now let me show you how well I know you."

And as she moved in for another kiss she did just that.